Care delivery for patients with cancer is a high-risk, high-volume, and high-cost endeavor. In the United States, over 1.6 million adults received new diagnoses of invasive cancer in 2016 and prevalence is expected to reach 19 million Americans by 2024. The National Academy of Medicine, among others, have raised persistent questions regarding the quality of care patients receive across the cancer care continuum. Rapid and impressive advances in cancer therapies may be rendered moot if such therapies cannot be given in a safe, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient-centered manner across diverse treatment settings. Given the pervasive challenges to optimal cancer care delivery, additional research capacity is needed to hasten the discovery of care gaps, develop and test efficacious interventions, and implement discoveries into routine clinical practice. The proposed training will prepare scientists from diverse disciplines to advance this needed research and to understand and improve cancer care delivery, thus filling a critical void in cancer research. The goal of this new T32 application, Interdisciplinary Research Training in Cancer Care Delivery, is to prepare three pre and 14 postdoctoral trainees to become independent scientists who conduct cancer care delivery research across three emphasis areas: 1) descriptive discovery; 2) intervention development and testing, and; 3) implementation science. The program will produce independent scientists by providing a solid foundation in research methods and pertinent theory, depth of knowledge in a substantive science area pertinent to cancer care delivery, experience in the conduct of research, and socialization into the normative behavior of high quality, ethically sensitive research. Training is provided through four main activities: mentored research experiences, course work, a selected emphasis area, and professional development and socialization. Trainees will have an individualized development plan and a mentorship team composed of a primary mentor with an active research program in cancer care delivery and a secondary mentor with content and/or methodological expertise. Across six top-ranked graduate schools ? Engineering, Nursing, Medicine, Pharmacy, Public Health, and Social Work ? 22 primary and 10 secondary faculty with cancer care delivery research expertise have pledged to mentor trainees. The University of Michigan provides an outstanding environment to support cancer care delivery research training. Key institutional assets include the Rogel Cancer Center, the Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, the Michigan Institute for Data Science, and the Institute for Social Research. The University of Michigan School of Nursing, a top ten program, will house the program and implement robust strategies to recruit and retain a diverse pool of trainees. This training program aligns with stated priorities of the National Cancer Institute and the Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel Recommendations to lessen the burden of cancer through minimizing cancer treatment?s debilitating side effects, expand prevention and early detection, and mine data to predict patient outcomes.
Cancer treatments are complex, potentially toxic, and expensive to deliver. This new training program for pre and postdoctoral trainees focuses on preparing scientists from diverse disciplines to become independent investigators to conduct cancer care delivery research that will ultimately improve the care experience for patients with cancer. With the support of their mentors, formal coursework, selected emphasis activities, and professional socialization, trainees will acquire skills in descriptive discovery research, intervention development and testing, and implementation science to address gaps in the field.
